A few months ago I heard about chia seeds from my sister. I tried chia seeds with hot milk and cereal for breakfast. I love their poppy seed like texture engulfed in a gel like covering. The gel forms when it is mixed with liquid. Though they resemble basil seeds that we use in falooda, they are not the same. There is a misconception when it comes to chia seeds. Basil seeds  are called saibaj and chia seeds are called saiba. This is the information that I gathered from bloggers and web sites. I cannot tell you enough about their benefits, they are rich in omega 3, better than flax seed, helps in weight reduction, rich in antioxidants, balances blood sugar, has a lot of fiber. For more info please do a google search on chai seed benefits and you will see a lot of information on that.

What caught my attention though was that it was a good substitute for eggs. The general formula is :

1 tbsp chai seeds + 1/4 cup liquid(water, milk) soaked for 5 plus minutes = 1 Egg

I wanted to use this substitution for making a simple strawberry ice cream using an ice cream maker. There are two ways in using the chai seeds as a replacer: Soaking the seeds in water directly or making a powder of the seeds and then soaking them. Either way it gives the same effect. I however soaked the seeds in water and them made a paste out of them. It became gooey and the texture resembled the white part of the egg.

Now, if you are wondering how the ice cream turned out, it tasted great, had a nutty texture because of the chia seeds.  The ice cream texture was very interesting to me. It was like a soft serve kind, it did set well as you can see in the pictures.

Gadgets:

Blender
Ice Cream Maker
Measuring Cups and Spoons
A container to store
Spatula
Sauce Pan

Ingredients:

2 % Milk - 1 1/2 cups
Fresh Cream - 3/4 cup
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Chia seeds - 3 tbsp
Water - 10 tbsp
Strawberries - 1 cup hulled

Preparation:

1. Soak the chia seeds in water. Allow it to set for 30 minutes.

2. Heat the saucepan with milk, sugar and cream and allow for the sugar to dissolve and bring the milk to a boil making sure to mix them often or use a milk cooker. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

3. Add them to a blender and blend until the little black seeds are finely ground and you get a grayish gooey texture.

4. Add strawberries to this mixture and blend them well. Note: you can also leave a few strawberries behind and throw them in later to get chucks of strawberries in the ice cream.

5. Add the cooled milk mixture and puree it well and turn on the ice cream maker before pour this liquid in. Allow it to churn until the ice cream comes together. I removed them when it was thick enough and allowed for the ice cream to set in the fridge.

My entry to

I was looking through my blog post for marmalade and I saw this comment today. I do not know how I let a comment like that slip me, but I am glad that I noticed it now. In 2009, I got a comment from Mr. G.S.K and he had given me this paneer soda recipe then. Felt really bad that I had not posted his recipe earlier. Thank you Mr. G.S.K for this recipe, we enjoyed the paneer soda because it was very refreshing. It has the flavor of rose milk, but it is very light and has a very fresh taste. If you like and enjoy the rose essence flavor this one might just be the drink that you might want to try.

Gadgets:

Glass
Measuring Cups and Spoons

These photos are being sent to Black and White Wednesdays hosted by Sra

Ingredients:

Rose Essence - a few drops ( Rose Water - 1 tsp, which also works)
Sugar - 3 tbsp
Ice Cubes - as required
Soda - 1 cup

Preparation:

1. Add some soda, sugar and essence and allow for  the sugar to dissolve.

2. Add the ice cubes and the remaining soda and serve.

 A few weeks ago I had borrowed  books by Mario Batali and Mark Ladner's Molto Gusto's" Easy Italian Cooking" from the library. I have watched Mario Batali cook so effortlessly and heard great reviews about food at his restaurants. So, in pursuit of learning to cook and learn a technique or two from this cook book, I tried this pasta recipe. It was pretty simple to make and I admit that, it is the best pasta that I have made so far. What did I learn from this recipe? To use pasta water and cold butter as base sauce for the pasta. I did add Italian seasoning to the recipe and not add the cheese that was suggested as we had allergies to deal with. In spite of it all, I was so proud of learning to make simple pasta taste delicious. 

Gadgets:

Cutting Board
Knife
Colander
Stock pot to make pasta
Frying Pan
Spatula
Laddle


Ingredients:
Serves 6
Onion - 1 big sliced
Swiss Chard - 1 bunch chopped
Cold Butter - 4 tbsp
Salt
Pepper
Penne pasta - 1 packet
Garlic Pods - 5
Olive Oil - 3 tbsp
Pasta Water - 1 cup plus more if you are reheating the pasta for later
Italian Seasoning - as per spice levels
Bread Crumbs/ Croutons/ Rusk  grated - 1/2 cup

Preparation:

1. Start to prepare pasta as per the instructions on the packet.

2. Heat a heavy pan with olive oil, when it warms up add sliced garlic, thinly sliced onions and cook them a little before adding the swiss chard. Add some salt, cover and let them cook until tender for 7 minutes.

3. Add pepper, butter and allow it to cook for a few minutes.

4. When the pasta is done drain and keep aside the pasta water. Pour 1/4 cup at a time to the swiss chard mix to create a sauce.

5. Toss in the pasta and 3/4 cup pasta water. Allow it to cook a little to blend in all the flavors.

6. Add Italian seasoning on top as per taste and garnish with grated croutons or toasted bread crumbs and serve hot.

Farmer's market looks so colorful with the fresh fruits and vegetables that are in abundance during this time of the year. Strawberries,blueberries,apricots,cherries,oranges,raspberries,nectarines, peaches are so fresh and cry out to be picked and tasted. It is difficult sometimes to make a decision.I go overboard and come home with a large selection. With all the fruits we prepared a simple fruit salad and served it with creme fraiche. We enjoyed this with our friends who come over for a visit.

Gadgets:

Cutting Board

Knife

Bowls

Spoons

Fruit Salad Topped With Creme Fraiche:

Ingredients:

Strawberry - 1 cups cubed evenly into chunks

Banana - 1 cubed

Mango - 1 cubed

Apricot - 1 cup cubed

Creme Fraiche - 4 tbsp

Preparation:

Add bananas to the bowl first and then add the rest of the fruits. This helps the fruit stay fresh longer. Chill all the fruits in the fridge for 30 minutes, give it a toss and transfer them into individual bowls. Serve with a dollop of creme fresh. Yum-O!

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Fruit Salad Topped In Fresh Cream:

Now what would one do if the fruits are not sweet and perfect for our taste. A good way to dress them up and make then enjoyable is drenching the fruits in fresh cream. Apart from the taste, texture and appearance of fruit matters. Most people like the one soaked in fresh cream because it makes the fruit taste sweeter and richer. Here is a fruit salad my friend prepares often.

Ingredients:

Fruits ( Banana, Mango, Strawberry, Blueberry, Peach, Nectarine, Apricot) - 3 cups

Madarin Oranges - 1 can

Fresh Cream - 1/4 cup

Whole Milk or 2 % Milk - 3/4 cup

Sugar - as per taste

Preparation:

Mix together the fresh cream, milk and sugar. Toss in the fruits and chill it in the fridge. Serve anytime.

Salted peanuts are awesome as a snack. In India, the peanuts are roasted in sand and sold as street snack. It will be warm rolled in news paper and taste absolutely delicious. My sister's friend gave her an awesome recipe to create the same effect and I am elated that I could enjoy salted peanuts here. Super easy, took me two and a half minutes to make it and I had to wait for one long minute to cool down to taste one peanut. Here is the recipe for all those who love to have salted peanuts like me. Perfect to parcel them off for picnics, games, for an afternoon snack, for a movie night, with drinks and over a great conversations. 

Gadgets:

Microwave

Microwave safe plate

Measuring Cup

Ingredients:

Raw Peanuts with skin - 1 cup

Water - enough to wash the peanuts

Salt - a few pinches

Preparation:

It all depends on the power of your microwave. Mine was done in 2 minutes and 30 seconds. If not sure go in 1 minute increments.

1. Wash a cup of peanuts in water. Drain out the water. Add a few pinches of salt and microwave for one minute, give it a mix and microwave it for another minute.After that please microwave in 1 minute increments. 

2. Important, do not go past 3 minutes, it will get over toasted. Because,sometimes when they are very hot they will not taste roasted, but after it cools down it will be perfect. 

With school year almost coming to an end, less homework and more fun times have started to set in. Two days ago, my daughter wanted to help with dinner. She wanted us to have the eggplant mozzarella sandwich like the one at Anderson's bakery, sweet potato fries and a healthy dessert. So convinced me to make the dessert and to keep my part of the deal, I made the coco-walnut bars.We did not have a recipe, so we added our own ingredients into the mixing bowl and kept note of the ingredients on the white board that my daughter loves writing on. It was a lot of fun and the bars turned out awesome. It was chewy for sure because we used brown sugar, had a macaroon like taste because of the coconuts, walnuts and oats added a lot of texture.She certified that it was blog worthy. So here I am sharing our crazy experiments, and in a way, documenting to revisit memories.

Gadgets:

Bowl

Measuring Cups and Spoons

Spatula

Baking tray 

Aluminum Foil

Ingredients:

Desiccated Shredded Coconut - 2 cups

Oats - 2 cups

Chopped Walnuts - 1 cup

All Purpose Flour - 1/4th cup

Brown Sugar - 1 1/2 cup

Salt - one pinch

Milk - 1/4th cup

Butter - 2 tbsp

Vanilla Essence - 1 1/2 tsp

Egg - 1

Dark Chocolate - 2 pieces shaved

Preparation:

1.Set the oven at 350 degrees F. In a bowl add all the dry ingredients. At this point ask yours kids to use their hands and mix the ingredients. They will have a fun time playing with the textures.

2. Mix all the wet ingredients one at a time and bring them mixture together.

3. In a small baking tray ( 8x8) line with foil and transfer the mixture. Spread and pat evenly. Bake for 20 minutes. 

4. Remove and cut them when they are cooled a little. Add the dark chocolate shavings a little on each square. Store in the fridge for it to set very well.

During Christmas vacation, my sister and I tried to bake vadai's with the electric donut maker. We just used the regular vadai batter with no baking powder or soda and did not achieve the results that we desired. They tasted like vadai,but, as they say in chemistry it was colorless. Apart from that they took forever to bake. So, I gave up on the idea of using the electric donut maker.

A month ago, I was looking at a whole bunch of baking trays and it suddenly came to me that I could use a donut baking tray to make vadai's. This time, I started to think through the recipe before I blindly baked the vadai's.

Some important adjustments that I needed to make when it came to making vadai's in donut pans were:

1. The suggested temp of 375 F does not work well with vadai's. I think baking it at 375 F and then removing them out of the donut tray and baking them on a regular tray at 400 F created a crunchy exterior while cooking through the interior of the vadia.

2. The regular vadai batter creates very dense vadai's and addition of some water makes a lighter vadai.

3. Baking powder and soda, do have a great effect on the cosmetic look of the vadai. They help in giving them some color.

4. The donut pan creates a perfect shape for the vadai. The top inflates beautifully while in the oven and then deflates as it continues to bake creating a flatter top (which did not look pretty).

With all these changes I was very excited to taste the baked vadai's. The vadai's came out crunchy and tasted fine with chutney when they were warm. Would I make it again? Sure! I loved the vadai with chutney, as sambar vadai and  thair vadai. Seriously, you cannot tell the difference. I gave them to the pro's who are very picky about the their vadai, and they had no clue that they were baked. When I told them it was made with baked vadai, they suggested that I make it every week. 

Apart from the taste, was it safe to eat and was it digestible? Yes! they baked perfectly and no one complained of stomach ouchies.

Now, one may ask why bake them? Why not? It is low in fat, people who have health issues and cannot have fried food, are left with very little choice to eat when it comes to Indian deep fried snacks. This is also a perfect and delicious alternative for people who are on a diet. It gives them great pleasure because it is guilt free eating.

Gadgets:

Food Processor
Bowls
Measuring Cups and Spoons
Donut Baking Tray

Ingredients:
For Baked Vadai:
Udad Dal - 1 cup
Rice Flour - 3 tbsp
Baking Powder - 1 tsp
Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 4 tbsp
Salt
Green Chillies - 2
Asafoetida Powder - 1/8 tsp
Ginger - 1 inch

For Yogurt Sauce:
Curry Leaves - a few
Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Red Chillies - 2
Asafoetida - a few shakes of the powder
Salt
Coconut - 1/2 cup
Grated Fresh Ginger - 2 tsp
Hot Water - a bowl

Preparation:

1. Soak the udad dhal for 5 hours. Using a food processor, grind the vadai with green chillies, salt, asafetida, curry leaves with very little water. Keep sprinkling some water when needed.
Note: 1 cup of udad dhal = 4 cups of vadai batter.
                       

2. Set the oven at 375 degrees F.

3. In a bowl add the vadai batter. Add rice flour, oil,baking soda and powder.

4. In a six regular sized donut pan, add about 4 tbsp of batter so as to cover the mould fully. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Use up all the batter before going to the next step.

5. Increase the oven temp to 400 degrees F. Place the vadai's in a baking tray and bake them all for about 20 minutes.






       



6. In a blender add coconut, and some yogurt, curry leaves, salt and blend. Mix it with the remaining yogurt.

7. Place the seasoning wok on medium high add 1 tsp oil. Add asafetida, mustard seeds, dry red chillies and curry leaves. Allow for the mustard to pop. Add this to the yogurt and mix well.





8. Dunk the vadai's in a bowl of hot water for a few seconds. Remove and squeeze excess water and place in a tray.

9. Pour the yogurt mix on top of the vadai's in the tray. Allow to soak for sometime in the fridge and serve them chilled.

Happy Mother's Day to everyone. Along with the mother's day I wanted to celebrate my Amma's birthday which was last week, by making her recipe that she is very proud of. My Amma is not too fond of cooking compared to her sisters. It is not that Amma does not know how to cook, its just something she was not interested in. But, she does have a few tricks up her sleeve.  Mysore pak is her favorite sweet and she always makes this cheat version of it. She is very proud of this recipe because it got her sisters approval which was very important to her. She wanted to share this recipe with me and I loved it. The fudge was not gooey, but was firm and soft. It tasted awesome hot off the stove and took me less than 15 minutes to prepare.

Gadgets:

Heavy Bottom Pan

Measuring Cups and Spoons

Spatula

Knife

Ingredients:

Makes 8 Pieces

Besan - 1/2 cup

Sugar - 1/2 cup

Ghee - 3 tbsp plus 1 tsp

Milk -  1/4 cup

Cashew nuts - 10 ( optional)
Cardamom - 3 pods powdered
Saffron- a pinch

Preparation:

1. Heat the pan with 2 tbsp ghee on a little over medium heat. Add besan and roast it until the raw smell disappears. ( about 4 minutes).

2. Add milk, sugar and 1 tbsp of ghee and mix well. Keep mixing until you get the mixture to leave the sides of the pan and form a ball. Add 1 tsp of ghee, add cardamom, chopped cashew nut pieces and remove from heat.

3. Allow it to rest for a few minutes. Make small ball ( approximately 1tbps) and flatten with your palm and shape to form a square. ( At this point I used the curly knife and cut the edges to make it look pretty, you can skip that step.)

4. Store them in a air tight container. They will not harden but will have a chewy and soft texture.

My entry to Mom's Recipes Event and Family recipe challenge.

I generally do not buy a lot of frozen food, but I do stock on patra. Patra is popular side dish from Gujarat, made with the leaf of taro root rolled with besan flour and spices. These rolled logs  are steamed, then sliced into discs and seasoned. I have not tried making them so I enjoy deep brand's frozen patra. They are perfect for a late night snack on weekends. A month ago, I had to make lunch, but was not in the mood to cook. I suggest sandwiches and everyone agreed. I was out of veggie patties but found a packet of patra in my freezer. As they say, "necessity is the mother of invention", I used patra to make the sandwiches. It was such a hit and now I make it often. The coconut seasoning along with the sweet salt and spicy taste from the warm patra along with fresh veggies is  a big winner for me.

Gadgets:

Bowl
Cutting Board
Knife

Ingredients:

Bread - 2 slices or 1 roll sandwich bread
Patra - I box of deep patra
Tomato - 1 thinly sliced
Onion - a few slices
Ranch Dressing any kind or Sweet and Mint Chutney - 1 tbsp

Preparation:

1. Toast the bread, heat up the patra in a microwave safe bowl.

2. Place the patra on the bread, add the dressing or the chutneys. Top it with tomatoes and onions. cover with another bread slice and serve them warm with a smoothie or cool drink in summer and chai in winter.

For a while I have been looking at this recipe that a friend shared with me, and finally I got down to preparing it. Prepare mint paste or sauce, store it in the freezer and use it when needed to make mint quinoa or rice. It adds so much of flavor and taste to the quinoa that it has become my favorite quinoa based dish to prepare. Last night for dinner, I made mint quinoa and served it on the side with cucumber raita. The breakthrough with this recipe is that my niece who does not enjoy quinoa as much liked it. If you cannot find quinoa, please substitute it with rice it is absolutely delicious. 

Gadgets:

Blender

Measuring Spoons and Cups

Heavy Bottom Pan

Cutting Board

Knife

Mint Sauce/ Paste:

Ingredients:

Makes a Cup of Sauce:

Mint Leaves - 2 bundles 

Cilantro - 1 bundle

Garlic Cloves - 8

Ginger - 2 inches

Black Cardamom ( without skin) - 1

Green Cardamom - 5

Black Pepper - 12

Cloves -3

Cinnamon - 2 one inch sticks

Green Chilies- 1

Poppy Seeds/ Kas Kas - 1 tsp

Fennel Seeds - 1 tsp

Water - 1/4 cup ( optional)

Preparation: 

1. Add all these ingredients to a blender and blend into a paste. Transfer to a freezer proof ziploc and store it flat or in ice cube tray. 

Mint Quinoa:

Ingredients:

Serves 4 

Quinoa - 1 1/2 cups

Onion - 1 1/2 sliced thinly

Ginger - 1 inch

Garlic - 4 cloves

Peas - 1/2 cup

Green Chillies - 1 whole

Cumin Seeds or Shah Jeera - 1 tsp

Cloves - 3

Cinnamon - 1 inch

Bay Leaves - 1 

Cashew Nuts - 1/4 cup cut into pieces ( optional)

Raisins - 1/3 cup (optional)

Chili Powder - 1 tsp ( depending on your spice you can vary this)

Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt

Water - 3 cups

Milk - 1 cup

Note: If using rice use water and milk accordingly

Mint Paste - 2 tbsp

Butter - 1 tbsp

Oil - 1 tbsp

Preparation:

1. Wash the quinoa and allow it to sit in water.

2. Heat the pan with oil and butter. Allow for the butter to melt and then add cumin seeds, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves, cashew nuts and raisins. Allow for the cashews to lightly toast and the raisins to plump.

3. Add ginger, garlic and onions to the spices and cook them until the onions turn translucent. Add peas, chilli, turmeric powder and salt and cook for 2 minutes. 

4. Drain the water from quinoa and add to the veggie mix. Mix the quinoa well for 2 minutes.

5. Add water and milk and check to see if there is enough salt. Then add the mint paste and mix well. Add the whole chili.

6. Bring the liquid to a boil cover and cook for 15 minutes on medium heat.

7. There will be some amount of liquid left. Leave the pan half closed and allow the quinoa to cook through. 

8. Once the liquid is evaporated the quinoa might appear sticky, but in 5 minutes it will absorb the water and will be fine to enjoy it with cucumber raita.

The first time I tasted boba with pineapple strawberry smoothie, I loved it. Boba is a black pearl like tapioca that is used in cold beverages. They have an awesome chewy texture and I love having them with fruit based drinks or smoothies. Every time we have our famous family get togethers, my daughter, sisters, nieces and nephews and I never fail to visit the mall. Once inside, we look forward to Surf City Squeeze's boba smoothies. The minute we reach their counter, we act like kids at the candy store. There is a great sense of insecurity about the availability of boba for the whole gang that, we have to quickly find out if they have enough stock of boba. It then determines if all of us get one or two shot of boba in our smoothies.

A few days ago, I googled on boba and found that it was something simple to prepare at home, so I decided to give it a try. So, today at Ranch 99 Market, I found an overwhelming amount of packaged boba and I decided to try the instant kind. The label said that it takes 5 minutes to cook, which  would be good for a starter ( please refer to the photo above. If you do not have access to a Asian store you can buy them on line at amazon.com.

The cooked boba looked so beautiful like black pearls and I could not but wonder how a string of them would look. My daughter thought that it was funny and made her flower necklace and I stuck to the sting of black pearls.

For after school snack, we had our blended berry and banana boba smoothie. We were so excited to have our own stock of boba in the fridge for use at any time.

Note: If anyone reading the post thinks that I must use some other kind of boba please do drop me a comment and I will learn to do it right.

Gadgets:

Colander

A big Stock Pot

Spatula

Measuring Cups

Ingredients:

Baba/ Tapioca Pearls - 1 packet (1 1/2 cups)

Water - 12 cup

Sugar - 1/4 cup

Preparation:

1. Bring to boil 8 cups of water. Add 1/2 cup of boba at a time and keep mixing. The pearls will start to float and plump up. 

2. Turn the heat to medium and cover the stock pot. Allow to cook for 5-8 minutes.

3. Drain the water and wash the boba well. Transfer the boba into the stock pot with 4 cups of water and 1/4 cups of sugar. 

4. Make smoothies and use this boba. Do not remove it from the sugar water because they would stick and become very tough.